Hello Everyone,
During this past week, a colleague suffered a life altering injury while working in one of our plants. Our colleague had all five (5) fingers severed from one of her hands. The doctors were able to reattach three (3) fingers. We are hopeful that blood flow will be re-established and the surgery will be a success. I use the word “success” but in reality, her life will never be the same. Simple things like holding the hand of her child or getting dressed will be different. Once the investigation is completed and we have all the facts, we will share them with you. In addition, we had another serious injury where a colleague was burned with hot polymer. I do not have any more details at this time other than he is at the hospital. We must all work together to ensure accidents like these never happen again. Please, visit the shop floor and show your teams that you CARE about them and remind them that nothing is more important than their safety - not production and not profits.
This year, we have simplified and clarified our expectations by focusing on the major Group risks and consolidating all Group HSE requirements into a set of minimum requirements. I truly believe that if we have a good understanding of the risks we face and a good approach to mitigating those risks that everyone can make it home alive and well each day. But (and there is always a "but"), simply telling people to follow procedures is not enough – if this is our approach, we will never achieve our goal. It is important to spend time with your teams, understand how they are working (what is actually happening in the field), explain why it is important to work safely, explain the intent of each of the minimum requirements, and then listen to them and let them tell you how best to implement the procedures. Only through their active participation and involvement will we be able to Create Safety and move from a mindset of "Have to" to "Want to" within Solvay.
I recently attended a Safety Day at Silica. One session was about well-being at work. A participant shared with the team that being there for her children was her “why”, her “purpose,” for looking after her health and well-being. I encourage you to discuss the “why” with your teams – what is their motivation, their purpose for wanting to work safely. I believe that if you can reach the “heart,” the mind will follow and doing the right thing, the safe thing, will become more of a habit and over time a value.
Please keep our injured colleagues in your thoughts and I wish them well in their recovery.
Thank you for all you have done this year in making Solvay a safer place to work, and I look forward to your continued support and leadership as we progress on our safety journey in 2020.
I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.
Once again, Thanks and Be Safe,
James